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Touya huffed in irritation, folding his arms across his chest in mimicry of their dad, and plopped down on the floor of the living room. “This is stupid, Fuyumi, even for you.”
“It is not!”
When Fuyumi swatted him on the arm with one of their mom’s magazines, Touya yelped and violently jerked away from her, a much stronger reaction than the hit called for. “That hurt! Watch it!” He gingerly rubbed his arm while she stared at him in confusion. Even though their dad said he was strong, Touya sometimes acted so fragile and weak. Despite the fact that she knew he ran hot, he was wearing long sleeves and pants again even though it was warm outside.
Fuyumi dropped her gaze and mumbled, “Sorry…”
“Ugh, whatever, it’s okay.” Touya pulled his hand away from his arm to rub the back of his neck. “I’m not mad at you. I’ll still play your stupid game.”
She knew he didn’t want to play, but they so rarely got the opportunity to play together. Their dad didn’t like him playing with them, wanting him to focus on his training and controlling his quirk, which meant he spent a lot of hours in the dojo separated from the rest of them. Every now and then, she caught him watching Natsuo strangely. Maybe he was waiting for their little brother’s quirk to manifest so he could join them and he wouldn’t be so alone.
With their dad away on business for a few days, Touya was granted the chance to play with them. An extra person really helped out in games, although he wasn’t very athletic despite his training. Natsuo was already gaining on him in height and weight, which she knew disgruntled him since she was already taller than him. He wanted to be tall and big like their dad, but their mom said he took after her more and she was small and soft.
“I still don’t see why we gotta play this game,” Touya said.
“Because!” Fuyumi insisted. “Stop arguing!”
It was a game she never played before. When she was at school, she often watched other kids play a version of House during recess. One of the girls would play at being the Mom and a boy would be the Dad and a handful of their friends would be their rowdy Kids. She usually played School with Natsuo in an attempt to help their mom teach him how to read and write, but he was still pretty young. Shouto was a baby so he was definitely too young for School. With Touya in on the game now, they could actually play House for once.
They could pretend to be a family.
“Okay, I’m the Mom and you’re the Dad,” Fuyumi said, pointing at Touya.
Her twin wrinkled his nose. “I don’t want to be the Dad. I wanna be the Kid.”
“He is short,” Natsuo added.
Touya bopped him on the head with a fist. “Oi! Don’t talk to your Dad like that.”
“But you just said–”
“I changed my mind,” Touya cut in, refolding his arms and lifting his chin up in a haughty manner. He wore a look on his face that reminded her of her their dad, an almost cold look in his eyes and a frown on his face, like there was nothing in the world that made him happy. It wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted them to play at being a happy family. He must’ve caught the look on her face because he softened his expression and dropped his hands into his lap.
Fuyumi smiled. Much better.
“Okay, so that means Natsuo is our son and Shouto is the baby,” she concluded before picking Shouto up from under his arms to lift him onto his feet. He’d start walking any day now. His first birthday was in two months, and he already liked to stand and bounce a lot. He scooted along the couch, but couldn’t walk without holding onto something, which meant he was perfect for the role.
Natsuo pouted. “I wanna be the baby!”
“You can’t be the baby,” Fuyumi told him. “Shouto is the baby.”
Touya gestured at Shouto wobbling around on his feet. “He still shits his pants and everything.”
Fuyumi gasped. “Don’t say a cuss word in front of the kids!”
“Well he does,” Touya countered, “and Natsuo just stopped so he could still be a baby.”
When Natsuo opened his mouth, Fuyumi pointed an accusing finger at him. “Don’t even think about it. I’m not wiping your butt anymore.” He folded his arms across his chest like Touya had been before and glared at her. It wasn’t very terrifying considering she’d had their dad’s glares directed at her before and Natsuo was four. “If you’re good, then maybe you can get candy.”
That brightened Natsuo’s mood considerably. “I want candy!”
“You’ve gotta be good,” Touya said in his most convincing tone. “I mean, real good, like you gotta listen and do what we say and you can’t interrupt us or throw a fit.”
Considering Natsuo was a ball of energy, she didn’t know how long he could handle that, but Touya was very good at being bossy like their dad. Natsuo pressed his lips together, taking in Touya’s words, and then nodded his head. Well, they’d play until he didn’t want to anymore, which probably would be longer than Touya, but he wasn’t arguing anymore at least.
With that taken care of, Touya stood up. “So how do we play?”
Fuyumi thought back to all the times she’d watched her classmates play House. It seemed simple enough. They just acted like parents did on television. Maybe they were acting like their parents too, but she didn’t want to act like their mom and dad. Not that she didn’t love them, but she knew they didn’t act like most kids’ parents. They didn’t do stuff together or hug or kiss each other. She might have only been seven, but she knew they didn’t love each other. Sometimes, she wasn’t sure they even liked each other.
No, they couldn’t play like they were their parents. They had to play House the right way.
“We act like moms and dads on TV!” Fuyumi said decisively. “I’ll be home cooking dinner and taking care of Shouto and Natsuo. You come home from work, tell me about your day, and play with Natsuo.”
Touya furrowed his brow. “That’s it?”
“Well, you gotta improvise .”
He didn’t seem to know what to do with that, but he didn’t complain either. Maybe he was too tired to fight. Sometimes he got like that and would let anyone do anything to him. He’d just lie on the couch and let Natsuo jump and climb all over him or their mother try to tame his wild hair or Fuyumi read to him. When Shouto was real little, Touya would spend hours lying on the floor with him while he did tummy time. He was a little more energetic since he wasn’t training though.
After putting one of their dad’s old hats on him and giving him her backpack, she ushered him out of the room and got everything else ready. They weren’t in the kitchen, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t pretend. That was the whole point of the game. Natsuo took to it quickly, although he was still put out over not being allowed to be the baby. He probably would’ve had more fun if she’d asked him to be the family dog, but then he’d try to chew on them.
As soon as Fuyumi started to sing a song she heard their mother sing while cooking, Touya took his cue and walked into the room. He looked more confused than he should have, but then again, they’d never played this game before. He took far longer than he should have to think of what to say, and when he finally did, he still sounded lost. “I’m home?”
On the other hand, Natsuo was very enthusiastic about his role now that the game had begun. He rushed over to Touya and threw his arms around him, nearly knocking him over. “Dad! You’re home!”
“Uh, yeah, I am.” Touya awkwardly patted Natsuo on the head. Fuyumi let out a sigh. Well, it was more than what their actual dad did for them, so it was something. “Did you have fun at school today?”
“Yeah! We’re learning colors!”
Touya nodded. “That’s, er, good. Like what?”
“Red! Your hair is red!” Natsuo pointed to Touya’s vibrant hair. “Your eyes are blue!”
A faint smile twitched at Touya’s lips. “And your hair is white and eyes are grey.” With Natsuo still attached to him, Touya made his way further into the room. It was a little difficult, but he managed. He eyed Fuyumi strangely for a moment, watching her pretend to be cooking with one hand and holding Shouto against her hip, before asking, “What’s for dinner?”
“Soba, your favorite,” Fuyumi supplied cheerfully. “How was work?”
“Boring.”
Fuyumi rolled her eyes. “You always say that. Nothing exciting happened?”
The moment they connected eyes with each other, it occurred to both of them that they hadn’t discussed what Touya’s pretend job would be. She knew Touya was training to become a hero like their dad, but she wasn’t sure if he wanted to go with that. Sometimes, she didn’t know if he wanted to be a hero or if that was just what he had to be. She couldn’t become one, so it was on his shoulders for now.
“Uh, it was really slow…” Touya floundered for a moment before finishing, “At the hospital.”
“That’s good,” Fuyumi said. “But they know not to worry when Doctor Touya is on the floor!”
Touya snorted. “Doctor Touya.” She gave him a look, and he cleared his throat. “Well, I am the best doctor in the hospital, but today was boring.”
“Well, since you’re not tired, you can help me with Shouto.”
Looking utterly thrilled with the prospect, Touya walked over to where Shouto was playing with his toys. Setting their dad’s hat aside, he dropped to sit on the ground with him. Natsuo followed quickly, throwing his arms over Touya’s shoulders and leaning against his back. Fuyumi didn’t consider how much Natsuo liked to cling to him until now, but whenever he got the chance, he was all over Touya. It was natural since he was the oldest boy.
It also made her realize that Natsuo had never been able to do stuff like this with their actual dad.
“Uh, Fuy– I mean, er…” Touya coughed. “I think our son needs to be changed.”
Fuyumi shot him a smile. “You’re the Dad. You can change his diaper too.”
Touya paled. “But–”
“I’m busy cooking dinner.”
“I just got home from work.”
“I’ve been cleaning the house, paying taxes, and taking care of Shouto all day. You can change one diaper. That’s what a good dad would do.”
With a disgruntled look on his face, Touya rubbed his temples. “Okay, fine.” He picked up Shouto under the arms like he was a bomb. After getting a whiff of the smell coming from him, that might be a more accurate description right now. She wrinkled her nose. Both she and Touya had changed Shouto’s diaper before, but it wasn’t fun. Their dad hadn’t changed a single one as far as she knew. “But I’m gonna need a drink after this.”
“No drinking until the kids are in bed.”
Natsuo jumped to his feet and tugged on Touya’s shirt. “Can I get candy now?”
“Yeah, yeah, lemme change Shouto first,” Touya said as he carried Shouto to his bedroom where he could be changed.
“Yay!” Natsuo cheered. “You’re the best Dad ever!”
“Sure, kid.”
Natsuo wasn’t wrong. In just a few minutes, Touya had done more pretending to be a dad than their own had done in years. Fuyumi wasn’t going to think about that. Nope, she was going to focus on playing House and having fun. Maybe she could get Touya to play School later or another game. They could play Hide and Seek or Tag. They could have fun.